How did I Forget the Portfolio!?!

I bet you all thought I forgot my portfolio at a job interview in the past, didn't you? Well, no I didn't.

I was reminded recently that I left out one of the most important aspects to applying for a job in architecture...the portfolio. I don't know how I could have left it out since I worked on mine for years before I thought it was in a state to show. Having just pulled it out of my trunk the other day (I never removed it after my interview at Shive-Hattery over a year ago; I just knew it was the place for me) I should say a few words.

Copyright Liz S.

My advice about portfolios is the age old saying that less is more. In that, I mean two things:

1. Don't be afraid of white (or black) space; let the beauty of your work fill the page with a single image.

Filling it entirely with multiple images will clutter the page and can confuse the viewer as to what they should focus on. Text is also a no-no in my book. If you did the project well it should speak for itself.

2. Only put your best work in your portfolio.

I have never shown anyone what I didn't my first year in architecture school simply because it was terrible. I wouldn't hire me if I had.

I kept my portfolio to 4 or 5 architectural projects and 1 or 2 art projects that were related to my architectural work. I believe that diverse, non-architectural work should be included. It shows you can think visually and that you have more depth to your abilities. Just as impoartant is showing a variety of skills from hand drawings to computer skills to model building.

Copyright Liz S.

Note: Be sure to give anyone credit that you worked with...it's just the right thing to do.

If you look around on the site I provided you will also notice that I have a section of samples. Samples are great when you are sending resumes out and want to highlight your portfolio without actually sending the entire work. It should be just as eye-catching at the portfolio and clear. Here, I add text to begin to explain what they are looking at, but that should be minimal.

These are really my opinions based on experiences and I would love it if those who evaluate portfolios on a regular basis would chime in as to what makes a portfolio worth exploring.

“Can I Have a Job…Please?”

Wouldn’t it be nice if you had a family member who owned an architecture firm and you would never have to realize a job hunt or even an interview? This is the case for some, but most brave the world of rejection day after day, week after week and so on.

I graduated, like many, when the economy had tanked and architects were being laid off in droves. It was a rough world, but luckily I had a service job that paid the bills, kept me happy and gave me time to job search in the off hours.

There are things one can do to lessen the blow. Be aggressive, not in the mean sense, but in the proactive sense. If you live in a city join groups where you can meet people and make connections. I became a docent at the local museum. Though it did not lead to a job it kept my mind active in an artistic manner. Visit firms! Let them get to know you in a more casual situation so when you go for an interview they already know you. This is invaluable.

I also got to know the people I served everyday at the coffee shop at which I was a barista. One recognized my hard work and recommended me for the job I have today. You know they saying that you’re always being “interviewed” (or something like that)? You never know who will walk into your life and help you out so be courteous to all that you meet.

Keep your resume fresh and clean and filed with your best qualities. Mine has experience, honors, leadership positions and a list of qualifications. The latter list doesn’t have to be dry; this is an area where you can express some of your architecture-specific interests such as space planning and large public space design. If you can’t put Revit on your resume you need to learn it or consider a different route.

You also need to have a killer, clear and concise cover letter quickly explaining what you’re looking for and why you are the best choice. It’s a dog eat dog world out there and you need to stand out. One time I mailed a resume-on-a-stick to a firm that did a lot of fair buildings. I never heard if they liked it or not, but I figured I had nothing to lose. That is one way to give your letter personality. Another is to tell a short story about what architecture means to you.

Since this is getting long, the best advice I can give you to is to utilize your school resources at the Career Services office. They are there to help you.

Any advice from the employers out there? What do you look for in a candidate?

Knowledge is Power

Last week I was part of a meeting where we, the architects, needed to convince the owner to go a different direction with a project that had been set for some time. We prepared as a team before entering the meeting, going over every possible solution and playing devil’s advocate to make sure we were correct in our assumptions.

We went in, guns only slightly blazing, presented our case and had immediate buy-in. This does not always happen... What I learned from it and what we all should take from it is that knowledge is power.

When I would submit papers in school I always got them back with the teacher asking “where is your counter argument?” A component that I thought didn’t matter when I was in elementary school and junior high, but I find applying to design at every step. I have learned by observation that a good architect challenges their decision, asking “why did I do it that way?”, “is there a better solution?”, etc. The architect I typically work with did his homework in the above situation. He asked senior detailers for their opinion, studied drawings and existing conditions and came to the well-educated decision that we were doing it wrong…

The moral of the whole story, especially to you aspiring architects, is always ask “why?”.

In grad school I eventually figured out that at every critique a reviewer would ask “why?” to even the things that are seemingly unimportant to the project.  “Why isn’t that wall 3 inches to the left?” “Why didn't you make that glass?” “Why does that protrude that direction?” (and they ask you to literally turn the building on its side and wonder if that might be a better solution…). I learned to question everything I did. By the time graduation came around I had an answer for everything (or was pretty good with coming up with something on the fly) and reduced the number of surprises come final review.

If you just really really like something and don’t have a clue as to why you did it…figure out a reason. That’s what a very wise studio instructor told me to do because he liked it, too J

I admit that I ask “why?” less now because there is often someone making the decisions for me, but the decision makers like the challenge and sometimes it leads to a missed component or a different solution and most importantly, I guarantee you will learn more than you expected from saying that three-letter word. Get into the habit early and it will become second nature.

 

"For also knowledge itself is power" - Francis Bacon in Meditationes Sacrae (1597)



A little extra knowledge:A paiting by a
different Francis Bacon. It's one of my
favorites from the Des Moines Art Center,
so I had to share...

Is a Messy Desk a Sign of a Messy Mind?: An Introduction

"If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is
an empty desk a sign?" - Albert Einstein

I have kept a messy desk my entire life when I think back all the way to when I first had a desk. I think it was third grade when it started. My teacher liked to play tricks on the class when we were away; wrapping the desks in plastic wrap and turning them over, and so on (he blamed a paper spider that hung from a light). One time he filled my desk with thousands of dried beans. I left them there for the remainder of the year…

In graduate school my desk was in a block with three of my greatest friends and we were all such a mess that one could not see where one desk ended and the other began.

Now I find myself in a professional setting as a real Intern Architect and I cannot seem to break the habit. I’m going to go ahead and blame the fact that I work on no less than four projects at one time, but really I can’t seem to function any other way.

Donning my cubicle I have pictures of my friends, my husband and our travels. I have memories from graduate school that I never want to forget and quotes that inspire me when I have time to read them. I have honors and accolades from my diploma to winning 2^nd place in the Chili Cook Off last year. I have a page of red lines that is so colorful it looks like modern art and renderings from 3dsMAX reminding me that I probably already forgot what I learned.

My desktop is ever changing from piles of drawings to specs to details and product samples that rotate on an hourly basis. There is always at least one coffee cup (at the moment there are three), a bottle of water and a ball jar coated with a day old smoothie. If you move enough paper you would generally find anything you might be in search of, except for a pen. That is the one thing that is never where I left it.

Forbes Magazine recommends that I set a weekly appointment to clean and that if I don’t keep clean others will view me as something I’m not. You can ask anyone I work with that I get my work done and done well. Just because my desk is unorganized doesn’t mean my planner is. I prefer to read the articles stating that a messy desk is a sign of genius. If that is actually the case then I work with mostly geniuses. If you are of the same messy breed search for the topic on the internet and you will find loads of validation.  

What are your thoughts on a cluttered desk? Messy mind or brilliant mind?

Mess and clutter isn’t the only thing I am an expert in, though some may disagree. I am an expert Intern Architect. What does that mean exactly? It means I, like other Intern Architects, go through the days learning more than our brains can handle, striving to be the best while keeping our sanity (and our loved ones) and strangely always wanting more. Someday I will reach Architect status, but not until I can find my pen…

Copyright Liz S. @ Shive-Hattery